maybe the 4th best conservative college blog in America in 2008

Seahawks 31, Steve Smith 14

For the last four years I have had a season’s pass to Alta. One of those years was spent teaching. Monday, with the old man and uncle in town and hoping to avoid holiday crowds, we skied Powder Mountain. The snow was great and we didn’t wait in a single lift line. If you haven’t skied Powder Mountain, give it a try. Tuesday we skied Alta and they told us Monday was the biggest crowd they’d ever seen. Apparently the parking lot was full and they were directing people to the Snowbird lot.

Also, a short plug for a place that has treated us well. The Deep Powder House at Alta is an excellent place to get your boots custom fitted. This is the single most important piece of ski equipment. Having the right fit is the difference between enjoying the sport and snowboarding. For this reason I highly recommend custom boot fitting. Matt and I have both had minor adjustments made to our boots (in my case they fixed a buckle, in Matt’s they adjusted the fit in the heel) and both times the service was performed well and best of all for college students, they wouldn’t let us pay them. These were simple fixes–custom boot fitting will undoubtedly cost good money–but they were performed quickly and well. Their service is impeccable and their fixes have worked. Custom boot fitting is expensive, but worth it. Of all the money spent on ski gear, money spent getting the boots to fit just right will be the most important and satisfying.

I have no idea how many points the rest of the Panthers will score, but Seattle will win. I respect Delhomme (after all, we share the same first name) and I know Smith will get his, but the Panthers have no running game. They’ve got Goings going for them, but Seattle has the 4th best run defense in the league. They still miss Ken Hamlin in the secondary, but all three top corners will be healthy and on the field. Seattle’s DTs run four deep and the team led the league with fifty sacks. Chicago’s defense, while great, looked uninspired. Carolina had better not expect the same from Seattle.

Last week’s win came without Shaun Alexander. Don’t worry, according to reports I have read, there will be no lingering effects from his concussion and I hope that means no more crazy TD dances on the sideline (Morgan, thanks for the tip). Seattle’s O-line dominated the Redskins and will do the same with Carolina. Hasselbeck was great, showing he can carry the team, but the real story of the game and the season is the play of the offensive line. They are the best in the league. With Alexander back, watch for them to set the tone by running the ball again and again. The best way to beat Steve Smith is to keep him off the field.

Apologies for the long delay between posts. I’m in the middle of a research project involving altitude, snow, and mountains. Keep checking, keep posting comments, and pass the word about the blog to your friends, family, and if you think it’s no good, people you don’t like.

Comments

I love Shaun Alexander. He is almost exclusively responsible for my place at the top of the Phi Broke Phi heap at the close of the regular season. Thanks to him and the Falcons defensive efforts on Monday Night Football I will be naming my team the Colts next season. Even though I have this deep sense of gratitude to the Elaine Benez of the NFL (I thought all choclate had rhythm)I think that an injured Julius Peppers may be the deciding factor in the game. Although Steve Smith is my hero, it was Julius Peppers that caused the game saving?? fumble out of the back of the endzone and resulted in his injury. Also, Ken Lucas has came up big so far in the playoffs. Why did the Seahawks let him go? Seahawks 27 Panthers 24.

After knocking Goings down last night a little research(thank you sportscenter) has shown that at the close of the Panthers struggling season last year Goings had 5 straight 100 yd games. Though he may be weak inside(where running backs are made-see here reggie bush- his 4.3 speed may still make him a threat on the edges. The one problem with the panthers is a weak secondary. After a second half shredding by Rex Grossman last week. It leads be to believe that the seahawks should be able to do whatever they want whenever they want. But, i must give a little love to the tiniest man on the field, steve smith, does it get much better than this guy? he is a rock star in his own right. Seahawks 31 Panthers 17

Marc- In defense of the President, I too have initially questioned his size and whether or not he would be effective in the NFL. After some brief research which in no way resembled the scientific method I concluded that I would not want to bet against him and not take him with my first round pick. I cite Cadillac Williams and Warrick Dunn. As you all may recall, last year all the draft pundits insisted that Ronnie Who? of the Auburn Tigers was in fact better than his teammate who started ahead of him despite being dimmunitive in stature. I think this season cleared up any questions about who was better. Another comparison I drew was Warrick Dunn who just put up a thousand yard season this year on the number one rushing team in the NFL despite having small hands. When comparing Reggie to Cadillac they are very close to the same size. Bush is a little taller and Cadillac is a little heavier. Bush is much quicker. When comparing Bush and Dunn, Bush is taller and heavier and arguably quicker. The last two pieces of evidence I would like to submit are Reggie’s first play from scrimmage at the Coliseum this year when he took a simple dive play 76 yards to the house. The final piece of evidence is the bruised sternum on the over hyped run stuffing safety from Texas whose name I don’t even remember and don’t care enough to research. I don’t think Reggie’s toughness nor willingness to be physical and run hard should be in question. He is much more than a Brian Westbrook or a Dave Meggett. Maybe he is more of Nick Goings only better.

As a side note – what did the deleted comment say? just let me know via email.